Star Wars 2015 Release Date May Not Happen With J.J. Abrams

Now that we’ve had a few days to come down off of the contact high from the news that Star Trek helmer J.J. Abrams is taking over Star Wars: Episode VII, it’s time to start asking – and possibly answering – a few major questions. Who, from the original Star Wars movies, might return to continue the series? What storyline will Abrams attempt to follow as he sets up a fresh trilogy? And when might we actually see this film in theaters? At first, we thought 2015 was the target date. Now, we’re not so sure.

No date was specified in the eventual press release that confirmed Abrams’ participation. And The Hollywood Reporter quoted sources saying that the director “has not committed to that release date” and is reserving the right to push that date back if his production schedule demands it. If you’ll recall, Abrams had to pull similar rank with Paramount when they pushed to get the Star Trek sequel into theaters in Summer 2012. Abrams balked, and now we’re getting what’s sure to be a higher quality sequel in theaters this May.

It goes without saying that we’d prefer Abrams to take his time and get Star Wars off on the right foot rather than rushing his schedule to hit a predetermined release date. We’ve waited this long for a great Star Wars movie. Let’s give Abrams his time to develop the right sequel, so that we’re not reaching “prequel-trilogy” levels of fan bitching. Also, between Marvel’s The Avengers 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, a possible Justice League movie and The Fantastic Four reboot, 2015 isn’t craving another blockbuster, so if our journey back to a galaxy far, far away takes longer than we thought, I’m sure the results will be worth the wait.